THE PUFFIN 49 



rabbits, if there are any, are removed one by one by the ear or 

 neck, and deposited outside. Then follows a struggle with the old 

 rabbit, who has usually to yield to its adversary's beak. It is 

 "bitten "out. 1 



In excavating its own hole, the puffin uses its feet, scraping the 

 earth out backwards, so that it looks like " a fountain of dust blowing 

 up from the burrow." 2 



The labour of excavating a new hole is, of course, unnecessary in 

 the case of most birds, as they return to their holes of the previous 

 year, which they clean out and refurnish. The frequent disputes and 

 fierce fights for holes which take place among the puffins themselves 

 seem to show either that some birds are too lazy to excavate, or that 

 there is not room for all. The fact that there are usually a large 

 number of non-breeding birds points to the latter conclusion. At 

 Lovunden in Norway, where there is a colony of some millions, the 

 non-breeding are said by Collett to exceed the breeding birds. At 

 another smaller colony the proportion of breeding to non-breeding is 

 given as 1 to 20. 3 



Unlike the other British Auks, the puffin does not merely lay its 

 eggs upon the ground, but usually constructs a nest of grass, roots, 

 and feathers. According to Naumann, both sexes share in this 

 labour. The one whitish coloured egg is usually laid in May. The 

 bird can be drawn from its hole without resistance, and does not, 

 in fact, appear to bite or scratch till it is out, and can see clearly 

 what it has to deal with. Then it makes up for lost time. 4 



In June or later the chick, which is clad in thick jet-black down, 

 makes its appearance and is assiduously fed by both parents on 

 fish. These are caught by diving and swimming or flying under the 

 water. In its sub-aquatic movements the puffin resembles the other 



1 Payne Gallwey, The Fowler in Ireland, p. 265. A detailed account of an eviction has yet 

 to be written. 



2 P. Heatherley (in litt.). 



3 Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 234. 



4 Cf. Naumann, Vogel Mitteleuropas, xii. 255-6 ; Zoologist, 1901, 146. 



VOL. III. G 



